Ghost app leaves woman scared sick

A 23-year-old woman from Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, recently sought psychiatric help after a smart phone app called the "ghost detector" gave her a very real scare over Tomb-Sweeping day.

The woman, surnamed Wu, claimed to have detected three spirits, an experience that has left her haunted by hallucinations and bouts of insomnia.

The popular app, which scans the area using the phone's video camera, displays a blob-like image in the supposed presence of a ghost.

Hu Honghui, a chief psychiatrist at Hankou Hospital, diagnosed Wu as suffering from phasmophobia, or deep-rooted fear of ghosts.

Hu traces Wu's fear back to events in her childhood, such as participating in her aunt's funeral and her parents using ghost stories to scare her into behaving.

The app comes with an explicit disclaimer saying it was designed for entertainment purposes only.

Many Net users warned that those with a strong belief in ghosts should not use such apps, while others suggested that the developer should make the disclaimer more visible.